OUZLES
FAQ

23/2/2023 update

There is an adoption fee of £25 per 8-week-old rat.
Or £70 for a trio.

There is no difference in the fee whether
they are Dumbo, Rex, or a 'special' colour. 

Adoption Fee Calculator for OLDER RATS going to PET HOMES:
£25 - (Age in weeks minus 12) x (£25 x 1.5%)
IE: 1.5% of adoption fee is deducted for every week they are older than 12 weeks of age.

Examples:
20 week old rat = £22.00
30 week old rat = £18.75
52 week old rat = £10.00
minimum adoption fee £5.00

2. Our rats are raised in an atmosphere of loving-kindness in the main rooms of our house.

• They are not kept outside in a garage or a shed.

• They are completely at ease with the to-ings and fro-ings and various noises of 21st Century life - including the hoover and the hi-fi - and sometimes even appear to be watching the television!

3. We only supply rats in groups of 3 (or more) unless they are going to share a cage with other ratties – in which case we will supply a pair.
It is important for baby rats to have same age company and to go out into a new home situation with a friend

Ouzles recommend rats are housed in a group of 3 or more and consider this a welfare issue to the extent that we now only home rats out in pairs where they are going to be added to a pre-existing group or where they are going to be company for a lone survivor.

• Rats are social animals and prefer to live in a group. A pair is not a group.

• They rely on other rats both for companionship and for practical ratty things - such as mutual grooming - all of which are essential to their well-being.

• Groups of three or more give rise to smoother cage relationships as the social burden is shared rather than placed entirely on the other rat.

• The only time I have ever seen bored-looking rats is when they are living as just one of a pair.

• Being part of a small group also mitigates against "sympathetic death".
  When one of a pair 'passes on' the survivor is always extremely miserable and can be tetchy and difficult to deal with. And it is not unknown for the other to die within 10-14 days.
  
  Living in groups of 3 or more from an early age is particularly important with male rats as it is harder to successfully add new adult males to a cage at a later date, particularly after the death of a close-bonded pair.

4. Get on our Waiting List as soon as you join our facebook group.
Fill in The Form to join our Waiting List.

Your completed form secures your place in the queue.

How the Waiting List Works:

• Ouzles take the first pick from the litters, for line continuance.

• Those we don't need for line continuation are offered up for adoption to the people on the Waiting List
  in Wait List order.

• The person at the top of the list gets the first choice of available ratties, the second gets second-chance to choose, and so on, down the list, until all the babies are allocated.

• If someone doesn't like or want the rats offered to them at that time they are welcome to "defer" their turn ‘til the next set of litters

• If you want to go on the Waiting List for a Specific Colour or Coat, etc, you are welcome to do so but please recognise that you may be there an awfully long time as:
  (a) you need to wait for that colour/coat to appear, and
  (b) anyone who joined the Waiting List before you is free to pick it!
  
  
  

5. Can I breed from your rats?
NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO .NO. NO. And, NO.

Our rats are adopted out purely on a Pets Only basis.
Although we have no control over what happens to them after they leave us, there has to be an element of understanding between us and any adoptive parents and that understanding is that they are not to be used for breeding.

• There are too many badly bred pets out there already and finding homes for them is harder than you think.)

• A badly bred pet can arise from a well-bred Breeder's Rat when the pet owner pairs it up with another animal with there is no genetic compatibility.

• There is a lot more to good breeding than putting two good-looking rats together...
  
  No breeding permitted whatsoever unless this has been discussed and arranged with you as AN NFRS REGISTERED RATTERY or OUZLES TRAINEE at the time of adoption.
  
  
  

6. Can I buy your rat food when I visit? YES.

• 5kg base mix = £16. + £1.75 for 750g Barley Rings

• 10kg base mix = £32. + £3.40 for 1.5kg Barley Ring

• No, we don’t send it through the mail. We can’t carry that much to the Post Office!
  
  
  

7. Will you have xxxx variety of rats available to adopt in xxxx month?

It doesn't work like that, I’m afraid.

• It depends on what we are breeding and what we are breeding depends on the requirements of that line which depends on the ages of the rats at that moment in time.

• We're not a puppy farm breeding to order; we don't breed to satisfy the desires of the Waiting List.

• The Waiting List adopts the rats we don't require for line continuation, in strict WL order.

• We only ever breed for line continuation.
  
  

8. Don’t call me Pat; it’s a DEADNAME.
My name is Paddington. Or Patricia if I’m wearing a dress!

Very occasionally, someone who has known me forever will call me 'Pat' to my face and I will not get annoyed as they have “infinite licence”. Don’t assume you have. I hate the name Pat written down.